Archimandrite Peter (Kamensky) and his contribution to the process of acquiring and systematizing Chinese books

The article examines the activities of Archimandrite Peter Kamensky (1765-1845) related to the process of acquiring Chinese books in Beijing. The chosen topic has not yet been studied in the scholarship. The key sources are materials from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (Moscow) and the systematic catalog of Chinese manuscripts and woodcuts of the Public Library (Saint-Petersburg). The paper abides to the source research method which suggests a careful study of the archival materials. The hermeneutic method allowed to interpret the relevant data most objectively.

Archimandrite Peter Kamensky played important role  in acquiring and systematizing Chinese books in Russia. Under his leadership, members of the Russian Orthodox mission in Beijing successfully studied oriental languages and were subsequently capable of conducting translation work. Archimandrite Peter himself actively translated Chinese and Manchu sources into Russian, the registers of books and manuscripts preserved in the archives serve as evidence of his efforts. On behalf of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as upon the request of the director of the Public Library, Archimandrite Peter purchased books, Woodblock printed books, and manuscripts in Chinese, Manchu and Mongolian. In addition, thanks to the efforts of his student Peter Zhou Bourgeois, the collection of P. Kamensky’s books was supplanted by the translations of Christian literature by Catholic missionaries, for example, translations of Giulio Aleni. Rich material for identifying whether a particular book belongs to the collection of Peter Kamensky is provided in handwritten notes in the surviving books. Pyotr Kamensky together with Stepan Lipovtsov compiled a catalog of Chinese and Japanese books, hence contributing to the process of cataloging and systematizing the book heritage.

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